Public to get tour of new Woodpeckers stadium five days before home opener

John Henderson Staff writer @PCNHJohn

Tuesday

Jan 15, 2019 at 9:37 PMJan 15, 2019 at 9:37 PM

Fans will be given a free tour of the new Fayetteville Woodpeckers baseball stadium five days before the formal grand opening in a major ceremony being planned by the city.

City Manager Doug Hewett on Tuesday night outlined the plans for a “Fayetteville Fans First Look” event on April 13.

The event, which is before the Woodpeckers first home opener on April 18, is expected to draw several thousand people and will include the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Hewett told the Baseball Committee.

“We're working with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers to figure out what types of behind-the-scenes (stadium amenities) we might be able to show the fans and citizens on that day - whether it's a press box, whether it's a suite, whether it's a locker room," Hewett said. “We've got to arrange tours for that number of people. But it also gives us a chance to do a dry run for the equipment and the concessions there as well.”

The committee, which is comprised of city council members, a contractor representative, city staff and baseball officials, voted to recommend to the city council that the city spend up to $30,000 for the event. The funds would be spent on publications, memorabilia, discounted food and drink, honorariums and other costs. The council will decide whether to spend the funds at a meeting next month, Hewett said.

People who attend would be able to get a commemorative Woodpeckers book, coins, and vouchers for discounts on food.

Dignitaries would be invited to the event, including the local, state and federal elected officials as well as North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

“We are inviting the entire world,” Hewett said after the meeting.

There will also be music and entertainment, Hewett said.

“We're still working on events,” Hewett said after the meeting. “We're going to have a band there. We're going to have a military presence. I don't know what it's going to be. I don't know if we're going to have someone flying over (the stadium), or someone jumping in. We've got Miss Fayetteville who will probably do the National Anthem. We've probably got a small jazz quartet who will have a concert.”

Finishing the job

Roslyn Henderson, the senior project manager for the contractor Barton Malow, gave an update on the progress of the project, which she said after the meeting will be finished by the scheduled substantial completion date of March 29.

Barton Malow had asked the city for another month to complete the project due to rain delays from Hurricane Florence and other rain events last year, and asked the city for nearly an extra million dollars on the project to speed up work after the city said the delay was not acceptable.

City staff has sent a letter to the company urging it to finish the job and talk about settlements over the cost of the rain delays later, and Barton Malow is taking that path.

Henderson outlined in detail many facets of the stadium that are being worked on.

“We're continuing to move forward,” she said.

Mark Zarthar, the president of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, said job fairs will be held in February for the 100-part time employees the stadium will be hiring. He said the time and place of the fairs has not been set.

“We're working with local university, local hotels and other organizations that can facilitate a job fair,” Zarthar said.

On opening day on April 18, the stadium is expected to open about two hours before the 7 p.m. game against the Mudcats.

“That might be adjusted because opening day it will be crazy,” he said. “We might want to open a little earlier.”

There will be quite a celebration on opening day, Zarthar said, with fireworks planned.

“We've got all the stuff,” he said. “We'll make the Super Bowl look like it's JV.”

Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at jhenderson@fayoberver.com or 910-486-3596.

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